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Hillsborough Board To Vote On Funding To Lure Firm To USF

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By JACOB SCHNEIDER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 15, 2008

TAMPA - Hillsborough County commissioners are expected to vote Wednesday on $6 million in funding to lure a Massachusetts-based high-tech firm to open a research and product development laboratory at the University of South Florida.

The plan to draw an undisclosed company first was put before the commissioners in April. An item before the board Wednesday identifies the company as Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc., commonly known as Draper Laboratories.

Draper is a contract researcher in an array of fields from biomedical engineering to missile guidance technology. The Cambridge, Mass.,-based firm employs more than 1,000 people at six sites, including one at Cape Canaveral, according to its Web site.

A university spokeswoman declined to comment today.

A Draper spokeswoman said the company has made no formal plans with USF and is looking at several potential sites nationwide.

If the county and company strike a deal, Draper could set up a $20 million research laboratory at USF as well as a $14 million Multi-chip Module production facility in St. Petersburg with an existing firm.

The $6 million from the county along with $4 million from the university would make the project eligible for $10 million in matching funding from the Florida Innovation Incentive Program.

According to the county staff recommendation to approve the funding request attached to the proposal, the new lab could create as many as 100 jobs with average salaries above $75,000 a year and a a ripple effect of as many as 271 additional jobs within five years.

Reporter Jacob Schneider can be reached at (813) 259-7850 or jschneider@tampatrib.com.

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